
Class ^_S35ia 

Book_Al.S>3Ll_ 

CopyilghtlJ" \ ^) \ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 
AND OTHER POEMS 
OF THE **NORTHLAND'» 




THE MALAMUTE 



andomer loems 
of me Narmland 

lukoitUm 




aeoraeli-Vmiii^pany 






,it 



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Copyright, 1910 
BY GEORGE H. DORAN CO. 



THE • PLIMPTON • PRESS 



NORWOOD • MASS • U'S- A 



©CI.A.26831C 






CO, go you, little broken Song, 

And carry to some heart in bitter pain 
Only my lute's light laughter; make thou 
strong 
The weak of heart, and bid them smile 
again ! 

THESE RHYMES 

OF THE NORTHLAND ARE AFFECTIONATELY 

INSCRIBED TO MY PARDS, B. AND B., 

WHO HELPED ME TO CARRY MY 

PACK OVER LIFE'S TRAIL. 

Y. B. 

On the Trail, 1910. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

GREETING ii 

DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 17 

THE MALAMUTE 23 

RED- JACKET 29 

UP AGAINST IT 35 

HOW SLIPPERY PLAYED THE GAME 39 

HEROES 47 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS 53 

THE TRAIL 61 

THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE 67 

GHOSTS 75 

AN ANGEL 81 

BILLY BIRD'S CELEBRATION 87 

INVITATION 93 

JIM 97 

TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO 107 

ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE 113 

WINDY 119 

MY SONG 127 



5] 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



THE MALAMUTE Frontispiece 

RED- JACKET, BULLY BOY HE IS . . , facing p. 29 

WHEN I MET WITH JIM ALONG THE DAWSON 

TRAIL 97 

PRAY, Sm, HAVE YOU SEEN MR. MARMADUKE? 121 



[7] 



GREETING 



To Robert W. Service 



GREETING 



SHAKE, Pard! I'm mighty proud o' you! 
(I'm know'd as " Yukon BiU ") ; 
You blazed th' trail an' blazed it true ; — 
Some o' my friends I see y' knew 
On old Che-cha-ko Hill; 



But say, old man, y' clean forgot my 
friend, " Swiftwater Bill!" 



VT'OU was a kid in pettic'uts 
When I went in, a man; 

Grub-stakin' with two other goats 

We sow'd th' last of our wild oats 
An' th' new, clean life began; 
We was th' fu'st (an' p'raps th' wu'st) Five 
Fingers' Rapids ran. 



11 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

GREETING (continued) 

T STAKED out Eldorado crick 
Long 'fore th' world was told 
Them hills from Hunker to St. Mick 
Groaned f'r th' drill an' f'r th' pick, 

The'r bellies achin' GOLD ! 
Where many a night th' moon pale white saw 
me in blankets rolled. 



A T Magnet Gulch I lit my pipe 
Got drunk upon Gold Hill ; 
I hoofed it cle'r t' Kokusqum - 



'Twas ther' I lost my Siwash chum 

(She drownded in a spill), 
An' Love an' Luck together went from pore 
old Yukon Bill! 

T>IG Skookum claim might a-bin mine, 
But fortune ther' I missed; 

For all I got a-though I sought 

I starved an' thirsted, dug an' fought. 

Was d plumbago schist ! 

Ten years of toil, of muck an' spoil; then on 
th' " Failure list.'* 



[12 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



GREETING (concluded) 

T ABARGE; th' Canyon; I was there; 

I dumb th' Glacier mound. 

I might a-bin a millionaire 



God! think of it, and see me —WHERE? 

A bum on Puget Sound ! 

At night my roof th' open sky — my pillow 
th' cold ground. 

TV/TE for th' trail at seventy ! 
I'm longin' f 'r th' track : 
I'll try again — no, I'll not fail 



I hear them " Little Voices " wail: 

" Come back! come back! come back! " 
O, God ! how Mem'ry knifes me now an' 
puts me on th' rack. 

ILT'ES, yes — I failed! Yes, yes, a drink! 
An' then my pipe I'll fill. 
Boy, here's t' you — y'r picter's true 
Of them old sinners that I knew 

On old Che-cha-ko Hill; 
But say, old man, y' overlooked my friend, 
"Swiftwater Bill!" 



13] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



'T'ALK of England's Derby Race; of Ken- 
tucky's blue-grass chase ; 

Epsom Downs an' Frisco "Tanforan" t' 
boot; 

I don't say they ain't done well, but I tell y* 
even h 11 

Couldn't match th' Yukon racin' malamoot. 

IJrOW them dogs they love th' Race! Y' kin 

see it in th' face 
Of th' starvin' scut that hangs aroun' th' 

claim; 
F'r he knows, like you an' me, that th' Derby 

Day'll be 
Th' big jag day — th' glad rag play, that 

brings th' Yukon fame. 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

DERBY DAY (continued) 

TT was Fool's Day f'r th' Race; every husky 

in his place ; 
Wasky's dogs was runnin' Billy Brown of 

Nome; 
But at th' Starter's line ranged up Jake Berger's 

Nine, 
Ten t' one they'd bring th' Derby money 

home! 

'T'HOUSANDS hit th' trail that night; we 
was out t' see th' sight; 

Th' stakes, eleven-thousand-plunks in gold! 

Th' thermometer on strike — every bench- 
claim on th' hike 

An' them leaders b' th' leash y' couldn't 
hold. 

/^H, th' run was cruel hard — th' white frost 

how it scarred 
As they galloped down th' long, unending 

trail; 
The whip cut like th' wind, an' Carey's dog, 

snow-blind. 
Joined his howlin' t' th' screeches of th' gale. 



i8 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

DERBY DAY (continued) 

T^OWN where Candle's bonfires glow see th* 

racin' huskies go, 
All keen t' win — McCarthy's purp drops 

dead 

He's thrown out upon th' track f r th* lean 

an' hungry pack 
Of grey wolves follerin' th' flyin' sled. 

npWO-an'-eighty hours they raced — an' four 

hunderd-miles they paced, 
Them dogs never paused f r frozen fish 'r 

drink ; 
Hung with icicles of foam, the'r lithe bodies 

stretched whale-bone, — 

BUT THEY BROKE THE RECORD MADE BY 
JIMMIE fink! 

/^URSED, an' kicked, an' whipped ahead, th' 
dumb brutes, staggerin', bled 

Where th' whip cut cruel in; but comes th' 
feast 

When at Nome t'morrow night there'll be 
brawl an' drink, an' fight; 

An' no tellin' which is man an' which is beast. 



19 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

DERBY DAY (concluded) 

n^HEN th' dumb an' winded brute — th' blood- 
blinded malamoot, 

All frosted foam is gaspin' upon th* bar-room 
floor; 

He, the winner of th' race! in th' glory 
has no place; 

He's jes' a slinkin' malamoot when Derby 
Day is o'er! 



20 ] 



THE MALAMUTE 



THE MALAMUTE 



TIJI, there! Into your harness of thong! 

(Whip.) You get into your place; 
Give him the lash, Bill. Eh? What's wrong? 

See that look in the mal'mute's face : — 
Is it devilish cunning o'ermastering pain ? 
Some lost soul reincarnate again, 

Running Sin's last race. 



/^OME skulkin' into the camp last June, 
A leprous, mangy cur; 
Reasty and rotten — bayed at th' Moon 

As if you'd a grudge 'gainst her. 
All fester and soil — corruption and boil ; 
Your evil face like some carved gargoyle. 
And you refused to stir 



23] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE MALAMUTE (continued) 

nr HOUGH I broke th' lash on your back, 
You subjugated me : — 
You proved the master — I proved the hack, 

For, plainly I could see 
You'd been sent back to earth to work out 

y'r sin. 
And y' came straight t* me, a larrikin; 
An' why did you come to me ? 

V\/'HAT were you There ? Unregenerate thief, 

A dereUct from your birth ? 
Were you a church-going pharisee. 

That Belial of this earth ? 
Was your lecherous, lutish, animal mind 
Drawn to me as one of your kind ? 

Your grin betrays your mirth. 

V\/'ELL, me an' you, Mal'mute, stand chums; 

We won't each other despise; 
The camp may call us a couple o' bums 

But we hold our own assize : 
We stand for Arbitration straight — 
An' mebbe' some day, at St. Peter's Gate 

We'll look in each other's eyes. 



[24 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE MALAMUTE (concluded) 

A H, you leprous devil ! you taught me how 

To fumigate my soul 
From wanton ways and dicing days, 

And lush of the flowing bowl: 
I'm steeped in guilt right up to the hilt, 
Worshipped in temples of Shame I've built. 

And Pleasure's been my goal. 



B 



UT here with you in th' hinter-world 
Where there's nothing pure but snow, 

Some words long dumb t' my lips have come, 
A prayer that I used to know : — 

" Our — Father! " — I wonder will HE re- 
fute 

A fellow that learns of a malamute 
T' take th' kick an' blow? 

/^H, down here below we may go th* pace. 
Loot, gut, palter, prey, maraud; 
But here or There comes settling day, 

For y' can't bamboozle God 

He'll send us back, like you, mal'mute. 

Mangy an' whining — black with hell-soot 

Say, Bill, did y' see him nod? 



25 



RED-JACKET 



RED-JACKET 



AllZHERE it's eighty below zero, there you'll 
find the Northland hero, 
Red-Jacket; bully Boy he is — sure 
thing he fills the bill ! 
In that trackless waste of snow, where 
the Northern Lights hang low, 
He is doing deeds of daring that would 
make your pulses thrill : — 



An' we'll drink t' You, Red- Jacket; 
The equator of your vest 

Bunches all the pride an' glory 
Of th' wild an' woolly West ! 



29 



R 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

RED- JACKET (continued) 

ED-JACKET does no askin', but he's 
ready for th' taskin' 
When they sling him out his orders, with 
a hunk o' pemmican; 
An' he'll travel day an' night after Red- 
man or bad white, 
An' he'll go through hell-an'-blazes, but 
he'll never miss his man ! 

He laughs at death an' danger, 
For th' chin-strap on his jaw 

Is th' link that binds Creation : — 
British fair-play, an' th' — LAW! 

PHE spur hitched to his heel — at his hip 
th' gleam of steel, — 
With his belly-band strapped tighter 
his hunger to forget, 
He may drop upon th' track but you bet 
he won't turn back — 
For it's duty, Duty, DUTY! That's Red- 
Jacket's am-u-let! 

An' it's **Hi! you skulkin' husky"! 
O'er th' wintry, wind-swept ground, 
The dog his lone companion — 
And the Silence that is Sound ! 



30 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

RED- JACKET (concluded) 

/^H, the Arctic wilds are weary, and the 
Arctic nights are dreary; 
And Red-Jacket sometimes wonders 
why he's livin' th' wild life? 
Then he eyes th' British Flag; says: 

**GOD BLESS YOU, YOU OLD RAG ! 

It's through courtin' YOU I've neither 
child nor wife " ! 

Then a shamed an' silent tear 
Falls upon the Arctic snows ; 
An' the anguish of his heart, 
God — an' Red-Jacket, knows ! 

"VTOW, you folks, don't get hard thinkin' 
when Red-Jacket starts a-drinkin'. 
An' he busts th' Ten Commandments 
into five-an'-twenty bits; 
When he hears th' bugles sound, ain't he 
fu'st upon th' ground? 
An' don't his ** powders" cure 'em of 
the'r hell-damnation fits? 

So we'll drink t' YOU, Red-Jacket ! 
God's blessin' on y'r head; 
You're th' British Con-sti-too-shun 
Bound in yella' stripes, an' Red ! 



[31 



UP AGAINST IT 



UP AGAINST IT 



TXT'HEN y're up against it, don't get feelin* 

blue; 
Somewher' in this world of ours ther's a 

place f r you. 
Y'r jes' a round peg in a squar', y' ain't th' 

proper fit; 
Keep tumin', twistin' every way — an' 

rise a little bit. 

TF we'd all we wanted in this whirlin' globe 

we're on, 
W'y we'd all begin t' grouch — then begin t' 

yawn; 
We'd get dead sick o' summer without a tech 

o' frost. 
An' Ex-pe-ri-ence we got t' hev' regardless of 

th' cost. 



35 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

UP AGAINST IT (concluded) 

/^H, th' smell o' fightin' powder, that's th' 

perfume f'r th' nose; 
Without th' thorn in hidin' who'd care t' 

pluck th' Rose? 
An' th' tears that wet y'r pillo' at night 

when y' go t' bed, 
They'll wash away y'r troubles — an' y'r 

sins, tho' ruby red. 

T> OY, when y'r up against it, get y'r back agin' 

a fence 
An' swing that good ol' we'pon we used t' 

call " horse sense " : 
Pitch off y'r coat — go at it jes' like a fightin' 

man; 
Throw up y'r head — glad y' ain't dead — 

Then sluice y'r bench — an' pan! 

CAY, when y'r up against it, don't get feelin' 

blue; 
Ther's room t' spare, ther's plenty air; ain't 

that enough f'r you? 
Every bed-rock wash-up ain't all gold t' th' pan, 
But life can't be a " failure " if y' play th' 

game a MAN! 



36 



HOW SLIPPERY PLAYED THE GAME 



No, TH' STORY ain't NEVER BIN TOLD AFORE, 
AS I'M TH' ON'Y man SEED TH' GAME PLAYED ON 
TH' DANCE-HALL FLOOR. I WAS THER' WHEN THE 
FUN BEGAN. An' WHAT I SEE I TELL YOU 
STRAIGHT — TELL IT AS MAN TO MAN. 



HOW SLIPPERY PLAYED THE GAME 



" T OST ag'in! " yelled Slippery Jim, 

** Never a mo'sel o' luck in m' life! 
Yankee, you're on th' velvet agin! " 

Says Yankee : " Jim, let's play f r a wife ! 
There's Bonanza Pearl, she's sweet on 
you; — 
Fairer * card ' no gambler ever drew ! " 



CLIPPERY JIM staked high that night. 
The game was poker, — rake -in keeps 



Yankee Pete hilarious, ready t' fight 

Rakin' th' gold-dust up in heaps. 

Jim's last poke throw'd on th' table, so; 
" It's my last ounce, boys ! Well, let 'er 
go!" 



39 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

SLIPPERY JIM (continued) 

IITE had staked the dance-hall — staked the 
bar — 
Then, reckless, staked the "Wonder" mine, 
Known on Bonanza near an' far 

As the lucky strike of Eighty-nine. 
Jim had played it all — an' lost ! The sweat 
Come when he gasps: *' It's my last — 
bet!" 

** TJ^OU'VE got Pearl left," grins Yankee Pete, 

" Don't funk now, Jim : make her th' 

stake." 
With a howl of hate Jim was on his feet 

But a voice rings out: " That bet we'll 

take! " 
And Bonanza Pearl steps up t' me, 

" You'll see this game played square ! " 

says she. 

CAYS Yank. " I stake my all 'gainst th' Girl." 
(Then I see th' flame le'p in his eyes) 
" An' if I win you, Bonanza Pearl, 

Your soul an' body no man denies 
B'longs t' me ! " He stacked his gold. 
As a groan from Jim his agony told. 



40 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

SLIPPERY JIM (continued) 

'^OW, Jim was a MAN. He funked no 
game; — 
Says he: "I'll stake blood, bone an' life, 
But I'll put no woman to th' shame 

Of bein' played 'a chip' in tin-horn strife !" 
But Bonanza, she steps up t' him 
An' she says: " Y' couldn't lose me, 
Jim!'» 

" r^OME," says Bonanza, " Turn up th' pack "; 
She skinned the bunch with a laughin' 
eye; 
I gets close up ahind Jim's back 

Ready t' let th' bullets fly. 
Th' two men playin' a round 'r so. 
An' the luck agin' Slippery seem'd t' go. 

" CTRAIGHT flush o' di'monds — Ace at th' 
head;" 
In a whirlwind play Yank takes the pot. 
Slippery' s eyes was now blood-red — — 
His lips crack'd dry — his breath comin' 
hot; 
The last deal ended the game, I saw 

'Twas Yankee Pete's first play — an' draw. 



41] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

SLIPPERY JIM (continued) 

JIM'S hand? cripes! Twas a regular prize; 
Luck had turned — he had aces t' bum! 
But he sot there starin' with bloodshot eyes, 

An' what I saw then gev' me quite a turn 

F'r th' divil's own luck was at his heel, 
He'd an extra card — 'twas a clear 
MISDEAL! 



T LET my hand t' th' trigger go 

Jim's throat gev' a sickish kind o' laugh; 

An' he says: " I'm dry as h 11, so, 

Wot d'ye say to a shandy-gaff? 
An'," says Jim, " I'll hev' a bite t' eat; 

Pearl, fetch me a sangwich o' bread an* 
meat " ! 



T FELT like shootin' that gol-durn Jim, 
Losin' th' game with a stake like that; 

Wanted t' up an' lambaste him 
Chawin' of meat like a hungry cat: 

When, all at onct, sort o' swallerin' hard, 
I perceives Jim eatin' that extra card ! 



42] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

SLIPPERY JIM (concluded) 

" T OCOED ! " yelled Yankee, quittin' th' game, 
Handin' over th' stakes. But Slippery 
Jim 
Himchin' up of his powerful frame 
Giv' a kind of a grin o' hate at him. 

" D n y'r gold ! " he says, " Slippery 

Jim to-night 
Will begin t' live like a man born 
white!" 



"^OW, perhaps you'd say the game wam't 

square 

An' some might call it a bunko trick; 
But if you loved a ga'l an' she stood there, 

Wouldn't y' swap souls with old Nick 
Rather'n let her go t' Yankee Pete 
An' play her game on Bonanza street? 



No, th' story ain't never bin told afore. 

I SAW IT finished — SAW IT BEGAN. SAW IT 
PLAY'D out on th' DANCE-HALL FLOOR. It'S 
BETWIXT US, MAN T' MAN ! 



43 



HEROES 



HEROES 



TF ye run up ag'in Carnegie, I'd kind o' thankful 
be 
If he gets a-talkin' of heroes, you'd ring in 
Sandy McPhee. 

'VrOW, Mac don't want no medals — he ain't 
th' braggin' set; 
But what he done back in eighty-one, he's 
livin' t' tell ; you bet ! 

'IXT'E was trekin' th' trail t' Forty-Mile; sleep- 
in' in snow-b'ilt caves, 
An' the great White Trail we hoofed it on 
was milestoned jest by graves. 

TV/TAC shot on ahead with his dog — itchin' t' 
make his pile ; 
Carried his grub-stake on his back. Got 
there ? I should smile ! 



47 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

HEROES (continued) 

"OUT th' blizzard struck him; th'r he was, him 

an' his dog alone 

A week passed by — then his grub give out; 
but he never made no moan. 

■pJIS husky died an' he e't his guts; tho't his 

brain 'ud go 

Then he 'member'd his wife an' kids at home. 
Who'd hoe their row ? 

"DOTH feet fruz cle'r int' th' bone! Says he 
^ "Fac's is fac's"; — 

Gangrene sot in — black t' th' knees. Then 
he ups an' eyes his axe : — 

" J AIN'T," says he, "no great M.D., but I 
kinder calcalate 
To meet this here e-mergency as was sent 
b' a unkind Fate." 

CO he humped hisself up ag'in a rock in a little 
bunch o' trees, 
A couple o' hacks with that there axe, an' off 
went his laigs at th' knees ! 



48 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



HEROES (concluded) 

A ND he stumped it int' Forty-Mile! Whafs 
that ? It ain't true ? 
It's hard t' b'leeve, I kin onderstand, b' a 
white-livered skunk like you ! 



T>UT, if old Skibo is huntin' a hero, ther's 
somethin' in my mind 
Says that, if he don't see McPhee, he must 
BE gol-durn'd blind ! 



49 



LOWER-FLAT ANNALS 



LOWER-FLAT ANNALS 



Y\/'HEN we lived in Lower-Flat us folks know*d 

where we was at; 
But them Eastern folks come, puttin* on 

great style : 
Us Old-Timers, we all said we was better 

we was dead, 
F'r th' way they talked an' acted, raised our 

bUe. 

'T^HEY interduced new dances — thing-a-me- 

bobs called — " Lance's " 

Where they traipsed up an' down upon th' 

floor, 
A-bowin' and a'scrapin' (lords an' ladies 

they was apin'), 
Th' Red River Jig ? 'Twa'n't never danced 

no more ! 



53 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS (continued) 

CNIFFED at bannock — sniffed at bacon; 

then, dried apples, they was taken; 
An' that good old dish " plum-duff " went out 

th' door; 
Then " part singin' " in th' church — "A 

Choir " up in a perch 

And a " Tenner " frum th' city. Say, y' 

should a-heard him roar! 

'X'HEN the pretty little crea'cher, boardin' 

'round, th' country Teacher; 
(Her we fought about f'r dances in th' barn) 
She went out o' date; a " perfesser " come 

t' prate 
About ologies an' colleges; things childem 

couldn't lam. 

'X'HEN they started " makin' calls," ketched 
Pa in his over-alls; 
But he met 'em with a "How'dy !" at th' door; 
The place was in a clutter — Ma, she was 

chumin' butter. 
An' Pa fetch' d 'em in th' kitchen, an' they 
didn't " call " no more. 



54 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS (continued) 

npHAT was Mrs. Mumble-Mumps. Say, she 

DID put on humps ; 
Took her daughter Gwendolina t' furrin lan's, 
An' they say paid out shin-plasters t' one o' 

them Old Masters 
F'r t' make a bust of Gwendolina's hands! 



/^ONE was th' good old days, and gone th' 
good old ways 
When an invitation meant th' fambly all; 
When th' little an' th' big would crowd into 

th' rig. 
An' th' fiddle livened up th' Chris'mus Ball. 



TT was " Welkim, welkim. Boys ! " Lots of 

laughin', lots of noise; 
With the babies piled like cordwood on th' 

floor; 
Boys an' girls all dancin' — old folks too got 

prancin' 

An' th' supper ? Say, we'd eat ontil we couldn't 

hold no more. 



55 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS (continued) 

"OUT them Eastern folks fetched "Style"; 
changed all that in a while ; 

Printed tickets told th' folks they was " to- 
home "; 

Served the supper frum " a buffey," an' they 
acted kind o' huffy 

When our childern round the parler used t* 
roam. 

ILTOUSE was full of bricky-brack ; china tea- 
pot with a crack, — 

An' they sort o' boasted of it; set it out t' 
common view; 

Talked about the'r " Fambly Tree " — good 
land ! why, they know'd that we 

Had ninety acres of 'em — scrub-oak bluff 
— an' poplars too ! 

'T'HEN Miss Mary Ellen Jones (her that come 
from Pile-o'-Bones) 
Lived in nothin' but a mud-shack all her life. 
She got puttin' on some airs, an' her nose 

jes' said, " Who cares? " 
And th' District Member picked her f 'r a wife. 



56 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS (continued) 

CHE did cut a silly caper: had her envelopes 

an' paper 
Painted with a little brand in blue sot up on 

top; 
When th' Flat laugh'd, I'll be blest! she said, 

** It's Poppa's crest " ! 
Well! Providence, that year, hailed out their 

crop. 

T>UT Mary Ellen's fall come when they gave 
^ th' weddin'-ball; 

Invited all th' stylish folks — gave us th' 

glassy eye ; 
But says Pa, " Th' next election we'll bust 

th' damn connection, 
F'r th' District Member goes out on th' fly! '* 

pJE he'er'd that. He wanted votes. So them 
stylish printed notes 

Come trailin' in t' us who'd been rejected; 

But Mary Ellen said (underlined in ink bright 
red), 

"please understand no children is ex- 
pected " ! 



57 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

LOWER-FLAT ANNALS (concluded) 

npHAT joke went far an' wide, us folks laugh*d 
ontil we cried; 

But Retribution it was on th' District Mem- 
ber's shins, 

F'r that sassy little bride who behaved so 
very snide. 

Inside a year perduced a pair of TWINS! 

CINCE that time we get on better. Mary 

Ellen wrote a letter 
T' th' weekly paper, statin' '* District Member 

liked our ways " ; 
Yes, Lower Flat's grow'd quite a place, runnin' 

other towns a race ; 
But ther' ain't th' fun we had them good old 

days! 



58 



THE TRAIL 



THE TRAIL 



TT measures the boundless distance, 
Led by wild ways that run 
Hither and thither in chase of the Winds 

That worship the Northern Sun: 
The Trail! which, never ending, was never 
yet begun. 



TN the dip of the far horizon 
Trembles the Morning Star; 
To the heights of the fathomless ether 

Nor lock, nor bolt, nor bar; 
The Trail ! God's finger beckoning to the new 
Home afar. 



6i 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE TRAIL (continued) 

'VTO sound in that void of Silence 
Save call of bird to its mate, 
Or cry of the lone coyote 

At the bars of hunger's gate ; 
And the heart is drawn by the wond'rous 
dawn, or some mysterious Fate. 



'T^HE Trail hath a storied splendor: 
Tepee and Indian Mound; 
Where the glory of God is chanted 

By no sacrilegious sound; 
Where the dumb brute bays HIS praise 
through Nights profound! 



TITERE the haunts of men are bounden 
By the links of Custom's chain; 
There you find embosomed freedom 

In the heart's exquisite pain, 
And thereafter will be heard the cry, " O, 
give me the wilds again!" 



62 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE TRAIL (concluded) 

npHE Trail hath no languorous longing; 
It leads to no Lotus land; 
On its way dead Hopes come thronging 

To take you by the hand; 
He who treads the Trail undaunted, thereafter 
shall command! 



63 



THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE 



THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE 



V\7E called him the King of the Klondike; but 

He really was " Mac." 
He walked int' Dawson in tatters an* rags, 
His frozen feet tied in a pair of oV bags, 
An' perceeded t' go on a couple of jags; 

Pack on his back. 



tJE worked empty-bellied f'r many a day, 
Pore old Mac! 
Stuck tight t' his diggin as if it was play ; 
With a good game of poker 'till daylight he'd 

stay 

An' a gun he could han'le. I also might say 
He would crack 



[67 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE (continued) 
But he never was known 



A FINE joke. I 
Wasn't Mac. 



T' refuse man 'r dog a crust 'r a bone. 
He kep' t' hisself ; perf erred livin' alone 
An' ther' was a sort o' respectable tone 
'Bout his shack. 



TLJE said of them " girls " that defied Law an' 
ban, 
(Humpin' his back) : 
" Pore kids ! fetched low b' some skunk of 

a man 

Boys, give 'em a hand-up wheniver y' can;" 
(On the'r 'count Soapy Smith out of Dawson 
he ran 
With Black Jack!) 

"LTE lived like a prince and he spent like a 
king. 
Did old Mac. 
Whatever he said 'r he did had th' ring 
Of pure gold; but one day in th' spring 
Struck a vein in th' rock that made us all sing, 
"'Rahf'r Mac!" 



68 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE (continued) 

T>UT th* fortin' he made was th' fortin' he spent 
In a crack. 

Paid all he owed t' th' very las' cent 

Then, off on a h of a spree we all 

went 

An' th' gold? why, he wasted it, gev' it an' lent 
B' th' sack. 

'VTEX' mornin' he woke up as pore as a mouse, 
Boozer Mac. 
Another chap, who had th' heart of a louse, 
Would a-blow'd off his head 'r burnt down 

th' house, 
'R int' th' river a-taken a souse, 
Things goin' slack. 

"OUT he stuck t' th' diggin' like hound t' th' 
trail. 
Worn ol' Mac. 
Jes' like an ol' farmer a-swingin' his flail, 
Jes' like ol' Abe Linco'n a-splittin' his rail; 
D'ye think a MAN like him c'd ever spell 
f-a-i-1, 
'R fall back? 



69 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE (continued) 

"Vro, Sir! He worked till he struck a new vein, 

Brave ol' Mac ! 
This time he held tight th' "millionaire" rein; 
Swore as he'd never be foolish again; 
Then he got drunk. I tell it with pain, — 

Scooted back 

"tf AST. An' I read in them Papers one day, 
Klondike Mac 
Had gone t' them " diggin's" anunder th' clay; 

An' he was a pauper ag'in ! Talk of Play 

" Life's jes' a stage ! " as Spokshare mought 
say; 
That's a fac' ! 

■|V>JOST of 'em Kings as I've heer'd on went bust, 
Jes' like Mac. 
None of 'em carries the'r crowns int* 

dust; — 
They sport 'roun' a while, but die they all 

must; — 
An' I don't know as one of th' king-bunch 
I'd trust, 
Lookin' back. 



70 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

THE KING OF THE KLONDIKE (concluded) 

T IKE th» King of th' Klon! Him we knew 
As ol' Mac. 

Rulers like him y'U find ther's d n few; 

Ther's lots of 'em sportin' a Crown ain't true 

blue. 
But Mac ? he was royal — a King through 
an' through, 
An' no "Jack"! 

TIP No'th they'll 'member him an' things he 
done 
Way back. 
We won't give his Crown t' no Son-of- 

a-gun; 
Ther's no entail on Kings t'other side of th' 

sun, 
An' pre-ce-dence ther' will go, ten t' one, 
T' King Mac! 



71] 



GHOSTS 



GHOSTS 



■r\EEP lies the snow on the white, white plain, 
And frosted the fretwork on window- 



pane. 



npHE Storm King has laid his icy clasp 

On th' lock o' th' Year: 'tis an iron hasp. 



npHE camp fire gleams, and its ruddy glow 
Throws shadows quaint on the drifting 
snow; 



■jV/TY heart leaps up, for I see a form 

That makes the blood in my veins run 
warm: 



75] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

GHOSTS (continued) 

A WOMAN is standing beside my bed, 

And these are the words, I swear, she 
said: — 



" VrOU MAY WANDER AFAR; BUT, GO WHERE 
YOU WILL, 

The ghosts of the Past will follow 
YOU still ! " 



A NOTHER comes — a girl-face, worn, 
And of every good resolution shorn, 



CHE utters no word; but her eyes of blue 
Are burning, piercing me through and 
through ! 



VT'ET another comes and takes Her place 
I close my eyes lest I see her face - 



POR the flush of youth on the girlish brow 
Is lost in the wanton woman now — 



76 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 



GHOSTS (concluded) 

A ND I was to blame ! God, let me forget ! 
And I wipe away the beads of sweat 



npHAT lie on my brow like blood-red rain 

And I try to pray — but words are vain ; — 



pOR I know that the ghosts of my sins are here 
To mock me at this, the end o' th' Year! 



77 



AN ANGEL 



AN ANGEL 



'T'H' angils ain't all up in Heaven. 

Not by a long shot. Say, 
Ther's angils a-livin' an' breathin' 

Right here in th' camp to-day. 
An' th' crown of one, I kin tell ye 

Is on'y a tangle of hair, 
But the halo that lingers around it 

Is brighter than any up There. 
One of her laigs goes a-limpin'. 

Her langwige ain't grammar of books. 
An' she ain't aimed th' title " A Angil " 

Along of her beauty of looks ; 
'Nless y' saw her as I did 

'Nless y' saw her, like me, 
Le'p int' hell-flame f 'r t' rescue 

Th' baby of drunken Magee. 



8i 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

AN ANGEL (continued) 

"ly/TAGEE in th' cellar was hootchin*; 

Th' gal was a-sloppin' at chores, 
Washin' bottles an' kegs f'r th' bar-man, 

Slingin' cocktails ahind th' baize-doors. 
Of a suddent a wild cry of " F-i-r-e," come 

With a lick o' th' flame, left an' right; 
The boozers they scooted f'r safety 

An' th' baby was left in th' fright. 
One wild cry above th' fierce cracklin' 

A yell of despair in the din : 
" My BABY ! O, God, send an angel! " 

He did. And the Angel went in 
While us men stood a-shakin' an' shame- 
faced ; 

The manhood in us not quite dead 

We was drunk — dazed with horror an' 
whisky 

'R we'd foUer'd th' gal where she led 
Into that hell-gate of red flame 

Int' th' whirl of th' fire ; 
And we all held our bre'th, knowin' well it 
was death 

Come a-nigher an' nigher. 



82 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

AN ANGEL (continued) 

"DUT no! What we all saw a-comin* 

Was th' Angil of Life : — at her breast 
That damn kid of Magee's snug an' snorin', 

As if in th' cradle at rest. 
But th' gal ? Her face out of resemblance 

T' any thin' human, you'd say, 
She come staggerin', gaspin' an' blinded 

(Us men turned our faces away) ; 
Then, " Lame Mary ! " we busted a-shoutin', 
, Goin' mad f 'r a minit with joy ; 
Magee, he was dancin' a hornpipe 

An' his Missis was huggin' th' Boy. 
But the gal as I christen' d " A Angil " 

We was shoutin' her name somethin' 

wild 

Swings 'roun' on her game foot. 
Says : " Shet up, y' galoot. 

An' don't be f'r wakin' th' child! " 



Y 



OU bet she was game, was th' Angil : 

Tho' she wasn't f'r playin' no harps, 

Sittin' on a damp cloud a-slingin' th' crowd, 
A-thumpin' th' fiats an' th' sharps; 



83] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

AN ANGEL (concluded) 

She was straight on her job, was th' 
angil; 
Wantin' nothin' down here but her share; 
An' my biler 'ud bust if I thought any 
" Trust " 
Side-tracked my Angil up — There ! 



84 



BILLY BIRD'S CELEBRATION 



BILLY BIRD'S CELEBRATION 



"DILLY BIRD was knowM as a bar-room bum; 
Be'n a trader out on th' plains; 
Be'n a timber rafter, a fourth-ward grafter, 

Hadn't no conshunce, hadn't no brains; 
But was well perserv'd in Rum. 

ILJE hailed frum Mi-sou-ri 'r Michi-gan; 
Was cook in a lumber camp; 
Run a Wild West show, then turn'd hobo, 

Was an all-roun' fu'st class tramp ; — 
'N y' couldn't call him a " man." 

tJE'D b'en kicked an' cussed like a mongrel 
pup. 
An' a cock-fight was his creed; 
An' eye out o' joint was another bad point, 

But with th' one left he see'd 
Far enough t' hit th' cup ! 



87 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

BILLY BIRD (continued) 

IITE'D th' wanderin' itch in his lazy heels 
(With th' luck that comes t' sich) ; 

F'r one day, dead drunk, that mis'ble skunk 
Struck a vein that made him rich. 

Y' sh'd hear Billy Bird's squeals : — 

" T'M richer'n Creesus! " (this he howled) ; 
" I've th' biggest strike aroun' ; 
I'm a reg'lar gent!" (Here his bre'th was 
spent 
An' he tumbles upon th' groun') ; 
B' his luck Billy Bird got fouled. 

/^LUMB up on a kag t' make a speech. 
Says he: " I'm th' Turrible Turk! 
I'm a millionaire, an' I'll curl th' hair 

Of th' man says I need work! 
Me ? I'm a rainbow out of reach ! 

" T'M off t' Noo York t' get int' th' swirl; 
Tip them waiters ten-dollar bills; 
I'm a millionaire ! Don't I wear th' air 

That goes with th' pace that kills? 
An' I'm goin' t' pick my Girl! 



88 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

BILLY BIRD (continued) 

" T'LL buy her di'mon's t' blaze her front, 
An' th' best champagne we'll spill; 
An' I'll murder th' man as says what he can 

See I ain't no gent! Me, Bill! 
An' I tell y' that's my stunt! 

" T'LL buy a floor in th' big ho-tel; 
I'll dazzle th' chamber-maids; 
Fifth Avenoo style in my auto-mo-bile 

I'll speed her up with my jades; 
I'll show 'em a Yukon swell! 

" T'LL dine on snakes fried in burnin' oil, 
An' dance till th' cows come home; 

As an aftermath take a champagne bath 
An' shampoo with a curry-comb; 

All done up accordin' t' Hoyle. 

" ^HEN I'll hike t' bed with a great, big, 
head, — 
Yellin' : ' call when the clock hits 
four!' 
An' I'll wait with a grin tiU th' * call ' 
comes in, 
An' Brass Buttons knocks at th' door, 
An' he thinks I'm sleepin' dead! 



89 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

BILLY BIRD (concluded) 

" ORASS BUTTONS * tap, tap, tap » on th' 
door: — 
* Millionaire, it is four A. M. ! * 
An' I'll bust that door with a Yukon roar : 
Howlin: 'Say! d'ye know WHO I 
AM?' 
An' I'll rouse 'em on every floor! 

** Y\7'EN th' house comes runnin' up I'll 
yell: — 
* WOW ! I'm a millionaire ! 
I don't hev' t' get up, y' blankety Pup ! * 

An' the'r eyes stickin' out '11 stare, 
While I send 'em plumb t' h 11! " 



P. S. — Billy Bird, millionaire, reached 
Winnipeg, 
Where peroxide blondes pulled 
Billy Bird's leg. 
You'll find him to-day in a Yukon 
s'loon 
Slushin' beer to th' same old 
played-out tune : — 
"O! them gurls they pulled my laig!" 



90] 



INVITATION 



INVITATION 



T BRING you a prairie greeting 

Crested with sunlight sheen, 
A picture of mountains rising 

To snow-capped heights of green; 
A call from the happy home-land 

Where human hearts beat warm, 
Where western corn-fields beckon 

And shelter from life's storm. 

T ONDON, thy heart of riches 

Hath the pulse-beat of unrest, 
Where the many know no shelter, 

Where the babe weeps at the breast 
All bared to the winter shiver. 

Where the hearth-fire, cold and dead, 
Is darkened by the shadow 

And Shapes of the underfed. 



93 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

INVITATION (concluded) 

/^H, the hopeless, heavy-burdened 

Bearers of woe and pain, — 
Mere human stones in the highway 

Of London's greed and gain. 
There weeps the child whom sadness 

And want have made their own; 
There weeps the old, whom gladness 

Is a stranger, and unknown. 

/^H, come to the land of Plenty 

Where the gates swing open, wide; 
Where all mankind stand equal 

Where toil is a boast — a pride : 
Where the silken palm clasps the homy hand 

When the long day's work is done. 
Where new Ufe is bom in the growing com 

In the land of the Setting Sun. 

NOTE. — Written in January, 1907, after seeing 700 men 
and women fed by Charity on the Thames embankment as 
" Big Ben " struck ORE A. M. 



94 



JIM 




WHEN I MET WITH JIM ALONG THE DAWSON TRAIL 



JIM 



*nPWAS th' days of th' stampede — I was of 

th' hobo breed 

When I met with Jim along th* Dawson 
trail ; 
F'r Bonanza I was strikin'; an* Jim? well, 
he was hikin' 
Along th road t* Anywhere — Jerusalam 
or jail. 

CEEMED t' me how all th' people had got 
soured in his steeple, 
But for wimmin most of all he'd bitter 
thoughts ; 
But we got on quite congenial, him a gen'le- 
man — me menial. 
And I got t' kind of likin' Jim in spots! 



97 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (continued) 

"OUT he wouldn't stick t' minin'. He was 
always drunk an' whinin' ; 

An' th' boys was glad the day he quit th' 
camp ; 

Next I see him with th' crowd down at Daw- 
son, an' I 'lowed 

I never see a bigger, low-down scamp. 

'V^AS he single ? Was he marri'd ? Idunno', 
but sure he carried 
A little bit of locket on his breast, 
And onct I see him open it — but that was 

in a dopin' fit 

An' I laugh'd t' see Jim's mouth ag'in it 
pressed ! 

r>UT a fella' will act loony when he's full an' 
feelin' spoony, 
Howsumever, Jim an' me went differ'nt 
ways; 
Me an' th' boys with pans a-washin' cricks 
on old Bonanza, 
An' when I met with Jim ag'in 'twas after 
many days. 



98 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (continued) 

"DAD hootch an' rotten food fetched th' scurvy 
quick an' good, 
An' tho' I'd made my millions it didn't 
help me out; 
I was side-tracked by th' fever, in th' hands of 
God's Receiver, 
An' th' sexton he most had me b' th' snout! 

OUT them dandy little Sisters, them as cooked 
us with the'r blisters, 
Made us swaller swill we hated " 'cos 
th' Doctor said 'twas good " ; 
One I liked called " Sister Mary " — she was 
tiny as a Fairy — 
'Twas a sin to hide her beauty anunder a 
black hood. 

LJER face, tho' never smilin', had a look that 
was beguilin'; 
Her blue eyes they would wander far 

away, 
Jes' as if her heart was crawlin' to some 
Voice as was a-callin': 
" Mary, little Mary ! " night an' day. 



99 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (continued) 

'T'HIS was my fool-brain a-ravin'; I couldn't 
be behavin' 
For th' fever to my guts was eatin* in; 
But her hand upon th' pillo' was like foam 
upon th' billo', 
When she spoke t' us of One who pardon'd 
sin. 

T ORD, how th' fever got 'em! Lord, how th' 
Doctors fought 'em! 
How them Sisters stood th' racket night 
an' day: 
Talk of Angils ? Up in heaven don't believe 
as you'd find Seven 
Could beat them a-makin' plasters, or beat 
'em on the Pray! 

AXT'ELL, one mornin' when I waken I see th' 
next bed taken 
By a feller, as was ravin' like a loon; 
Sich a face! All hair an' blotches (th' 

kind th' fever scotches) 

An' I says, says I : " His Nibs'll ketch 
you soon! " 



100 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (continued) 

TF they'd fine-tooth-combed creation f*r my 

personal elation 

To rake in a friend an' leave him lyin' there, 

Why, they couldn't a-done better with a 

Dawson lawyer's letter, 

F'r 'twas JIM beneath th' blotches an'th' hair! 

"LJE was ravin', he was mutterin'; he was 
swearin', he was stutterin'; 
Sister Mary trippin' round him like a 
little drift o' snow. 
An' she hovered as a dove might with flut- 
terin' wings of white light. 
So softly that you'd wonder did she come 
or did she go ? 

/^NE night, I wasn't sleepin' — Sister Mary 
night watch keepin', 
Jim, weak as a babby, lyin' there upon 
th' bed, 
Says : " Sister, — you remind me — of a 

— Girl — I left behind me " 

She gev' a little shiver, sayin': "Hsh! 
THAT — Girl is — dead ! " 

[loi] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (continued) 

''pHEN I he'erd old Jim a-gaspin' — her ban's 
his han's was claspin', 
Callin' "Mary, Oh, God, Mary!" eyes 
a-bulgin' in his head; 
She was lookin' down at him, but she on'y 
whisper'd " J — im! " 
But her face was like the face of some 
one dead. 

'T'HE'R han's was locked a minute — ther' 

wasn't no wrong in it 

They spoke no words, but eyes looked 

into eyes 

Then, without a word of talkin' she went, 
like one sleep-walkin', 
An' I he'erd Jim groanin' tur'ble 'twixt 
his sighs. 

"DUT nex' mornin' little Sister hikes along 
with a big blister. 
Jest as dinky an' as smilin' as before; 
But Jim ? he lay there blinkin', I guess he 
was a-thinkin' 
How them little fingers trimbled takin' 
down his fever score. 

[102] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

JIM (concluded) 

"p\OC. said old Jim was dyin*. That night I 
he'erd him sighin', 
An' he up an' says; ** Say, Paid, when 

I'm — at rest 

WiU you see this — little locket — goes with 
me — in the pocket 
Of the heart that's lyin' broken — in my 
breast? " 

AND if you're no doubtin' Thomas you'll 
believe I kep' that promise; 
And the Face inside the locket, human 

EYE SHALL NEVER SEE; 

P'raps it was, or wasn't Sister, her we called 
" Saint Mustard Blister," 
When she pumped th' pills an' quinine int' 
pore old Jim an' me! 



103 



TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO 



TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO 



/^HE-CHA-KO arrived from London Town 
Wearing a sort of superior frown ; 
Registered, " Bellingham-Bolingbroke- 
Browyne " 
(Hyphenating himself in the middle). 
He carried of " boxes " just twenty-four, 
Voted the country " A beastly boah " ; 
Laughed at the " shops," which he roundly 
swore 
" Weren't worth a Ta-ra-diddle ! " 

"LJE purchased of farm lands some sections six, 
Said : " With those common fawmahs I 
shan't mix ! " 
Then he started in with his La-de-dah tricks 

And built him a " Countwy Seat." 
Now, a " country seat " in this western land 
Is top rail of a fence, or a pile of sand. 
But Che-cha-ko's daily, diurnal demand 
Was, " The best people I must meet." 

[107] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO (continued) 

'"pHEY met him half way, for they cleaned him 
out, 
Drank his " extra dry" every ball and rout; 
His poor working-man neighbour he called 
" a lout," 
And laughed at the " countwy daunce." 
His amazement was great to learn we 

" digged wells " ; 
Said, " We don't do it around Bow Bells " ; 
And, describing the life of the London swells, 
Sighed: "Pore devils! you haven't a 
chaunce ! " 



TITE played " Gentleman Fawmah " a year or 
two, 
His cash was all spent (his friends went too) 
And then he wanted to " borrow a few 

Pounds" from his own hired man. 
But the rough fellow said, " My London Cock, 
When you learn to work, quit your bally 

talk, 
You'll float your Ship-of-State off th' rock! " 
(And he winked, did the hired man.) 



1 08 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO (continued) 

TLJE considered the matter, did B. B. Browyne, 
Quit every reference to " Deah London 
Town," 
And his neighbour, " the Lout," why, he 
came right down 
And did what we all expected : 
Lent B. B. seed-grain for his season's crop ; — 
Said: "Hang on, m' Boy, y'll come out 

on top." 
He did. The Che-cha-ko never cried " stop " 
Till for parliament he was elected! 

CO down at Ottawa now he sits 

Where he spits and smokes, and smokes 
and spits; 
In government circles he splendidly fits. 
And he's known as " Bully Boy Brown " ! 

For he was a man that took his chance 

He got right down to his Song-and- 

Dance 

Let out " London Pride " with his workman's 
lance, 
Tried the smile instead of the frown. 



109 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

TALE OF THE CHE-CHA-KO (concluded) 

POR the " Browyne " who would win out m 
the west 
Is the Brown with common sense that*s 

blest; 
Leaves " Grandpa " at home with the Family 
crest, 

Puts hand to the plow ; and then 

Follows the furrow as straight as a die, 
Stout heart, steady hand, with a watchful 

eye; 
He'll come to his own, and I'll tell you 

why: 

The west is calling for MEN! 



[no] 



ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE 



ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE 



TXT'EN you come wes' from de oder place 
An' you want sometings for see; 
Jus' come an' see St. Boniface 

An' I show you sometings, me : — 
Dar's de Mission Church dat Wittier 

sing 

" Turrets twain," wher' de peoples 
prayed ; 

But dar's sometings we got better still 

Da's St. Boniface Fire Brigade! 

"P\A'S a g-rea-t Brigade; — has mans tree, 

four 

Married mans wit be-eg fam-i-lee; 
Champeau, Dorien, petite Lafieur, 
An' Jean Perriault (da's ME). 

Us mans we work like h 11 all day 

Wit de saw, de hammer an' de spade. 
But by gar, w'en de fire-bell she goes " ring," 
Da's de t'am we don't was 'fraid. 

[113] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE (continued) 

VrOU hear dat ting 'bout d' beeg oil-house; 
Tree hundre' bar'ls cotch de fire? 
De smoke, mon Dieu! wit de flame go hup 

To de top of de be-eg church-spire ; — 
Lafleur's femme, she take de fit hon de 

floor 

Ma femme, she scre-ee-ch, " Saint 
Marie ! " 
Hevery one yell — dat place look like he — 11, 
Ontil Dorien, Champeau, an' ME 



V^T'E fill hup de tank in de Red Rivaire 

Sacre! how de mans per — s — pire; 
De peoples go era — ss — y; Winnipeg 
despaire ; 
An' de bells dey ring, " F-i-r-e ! — 
F-i-r-e." 
Wat you t'ink happens ? You nevaire 

don't guess 

Notings like dat happens sence ; — 
De horse runs away — de hose it go 
burs' 



But we save de dog-poun' fence! 



114 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

ST. BONIFACE FIRE BRIGADE (concluded) 

VT'OU hear w'at 'appens once in de place? 
Wen d' King's son he come Wes', 
All d' womans dress hup, wash d' baby face ; 

An' d' mans put hon he's bes'. 
Winni-peg bow down t' George d' Prince ; — 

Put d' soldier-mans hon parade; 
But de Prince, he sick of d' whole dam' show, 
Hask: "Wher* St. Boniface Fire Bri- 
gade ? " 



"Vr — AS, an' w'en d' heartquake shake Frisco, 
" Hend of d' worl'! " some sa-aid; 
I send telegraff (cos' me tree dollaire), 
" You like have my Fire Brigade ? " 
Hon d' las' Election, in d' Town-Hall 

Laurier sp'ik ; He sa — aid : — 
Gentilhomme ! if — you — want — put — dat 
— bad — Tory — hout. 
Get St. Boniface Fire BRIGADE! '» 



115] 



(( 



WINDY'' 



" WINDY " 



T ADY Marmaduke Montague-Marlinford- 
Dunne 

Came out to the Yukon in search of her son; 

Heir to vast estates and to lands long en- 
tailed, 

Handed down by great grandpapa's fist 
(which was mailed). 

The young man had mushed in by the lone 
Chilcoot Pass 

And was known to the boys as " That titled 
yoimg Ass." 



119 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

"WINDY" (continued) 

rj^OR the stuff he wrote home took Belgravian 
breath : 

"Dear Monty with savages!" — "mush- 
ing!"— "to death"! 

They were shocked at the mention " pay- 
dirt " ; and " the pan," 

They fully explained, was " held by Monty's 
man! " 

At St. James, The Carlton, The Ritz, it 
was told 

How " Monty owns mountains and canyons 
of — Gold!" 

/^AME a lapse in the years and the letters. 
Despair 

Seized the hearts in Belgravia — no word 
from the heir; 

For the lure of the Northland — the life of the 
camp, 

Had Monty the Beau transformed into a — 
tramp 

Who had drifted, like jetsam, the breakers 
among. 

And had almost forgotten his own mother- 
tongue. 



120 




PRAY, SIR, HAVE YOU SEEN MR. MARMADUKE 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

"WINDY" (continued) 

TN the year ninety-eight arrived per Dawson 

stage 
In December, a lady, a maid, and a page; 
One clearly of rank. With the air of a queen 
She stepped up to the desk, asking: "Pray, 

have you seen 
Mr. Marmaduke Montague-Marlinford- 

Dunne? " 
Adding proudly, — " The gentleman. Sir, is 

my son." 

npHE clerk at the desk stared and stammered, 

then said : — 
" No gent be that name in this shack has his 

bed; 
But mebbe' th' Boys " — Here he calls to a 

bunch, 
" Say, has any o* youse seed a kid with a 

hunch 
That sounds like — Ma*am, wot was th' 

name o' y*r son? " 
She faltered, "Sir! Montague-Marlinford- 

Dunne! " 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

"WINDY" (continued) 

■"VrOBODY knew him — worse, nobody cared — 
But the bar-keep speaks up (while his quid 

he prepared), 
" Say, w'ot was th' kid Uke? " — one stared 

at the other 

" Warn't he a pardner of Billy Bird's brother? 
An' had he a bench-claim know'd as * Bloody 

Jim'? 
'Cos if he had ther's a warn't out f'r 

him!" 



T'LL describe him, good sirs," said the lady 
in tears: 

" He left home just of age, namely twenty- 
one-years. 

His hair, sunny gold, is inclined to up- 
curl 

His complexion is peach-like — he's fair as a 
girl. 

He has large, soulful eyes, they are beaming 
and kind, — 

A soft, bird-like voice — and an artistic 
mind. 

[ 122] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

"WINDY" (continued) 

" IV/TILITARY in bearing — broad-shouldered 
and tall ; 
Speaks languages seven — a * linguist,* 

you'd call. 
Paints, sings, rides to hounds; he dresses 

with care; 
A de-lightful manner, with most restful 

air: — 
Oh! prithee, good gentlemen, find me my son. 
Whom all London once knew as ' The 

DASHING Beau-Dunne ! ' " 

npHE lady was weeping in 'kerchief of lace 
And she saw not the smile on the rough 

miner's face, — 
Who said : " Ma'am, y' won't find y'r angel 

up here, — 
Them pertickler brands — with * wings ' — 

disappear ! 
But here's * Windy ' comin' — he knows, 

th' ol' tramp, 
Every Jack on th' trail, every Jill in th' 

camp ! " 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

"WINDY" (concluded) 

" UING-BANG!" The door opens and 

" Windy " appears, 
A be-whiskered, a pimple-pocked tough to 

his ears: 
His jeans all in tatters, his muck-a-lucks 

worn; 
His parka was dirty, and mud-splashed 

and torn. 
His greeting : " Wow ! hand out a 

hootch! durn my gizzard 
If I warn't cotched in a Hunker Crick 

blizzard! " 

'T^HE lady turns pale. Then the bar-keep 
behind 

Hollers : " Windy, oP cock ! can you call t* 
y'r mind 

A chump 'round this camp Ma*am, wot 

was th' same 

Double-decker y' called b' th' telescope 
name? " 

But the lady, eyes staring, was shrieking, 
" My son! " 

Lo ! " Windy " be-whiskered was " dash- 
ing Beau -Dunne! " 



[124] 



MY SONG 



MY SONG 



T COULD not sing unless my song 

Had in its symphony one broken string; 
I could not say the thoughts that in me rise 

Unless my heart had been a broken thing. 
Why is it that the voice of Song so yields 

Mute music till the heart hath bled? 
Why should we find most fair and far-off fields 

By thorny by-paths led? 

"DUT if this little weakling song of mine 

Might carry cheer to one, lone, grieving 
soul, 
Most gladly would I offer Hope's bright wine 
And, smiUng, drink the lees left in the 
bowl: 

[127] 



DERBY DAY IN THE YUKON 

MY SONG (concluded) 

For I have in the darkness found some 
Hght, — 
Some sunshine seen in shadowed evening 
hours, 
And I have found throughout the lonely night 
Some perfumed breathings from wild 
garden bowers. 

A ND I were ingrate not to send it on, 
Such echo of what music in me lies. 
For it may bring to some o'er darkened dawn 
The brightening glow that comes with 
morning skies. 
So, go you, Uttle broken Song, 

And carry to some heart in bitter pain 
Only my lute's light laughter. Make thou 
strong 
The weak of heart and bid them smile 
again. 



128 



JUL 14 1910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



018 395 703 A ^ 



